Colossal dielectric permittivity in (Al + Nb) co-doped rutile SnO2 ceramics with low loss at room temperature

• Published in: Applied physics letters Vol. 109; no. 14
• Main Authors: Song, Yongli, Wang, Xianjie, Zhang, Xingquan, Qi, Xudong, Liu, Zhiguo, Zhang, Lingli, Zhang, Yu, Wang, Yang, Sui, Yu, Song, Bo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Melville American Institute of Physics 03-10-2016
• Subjects: Aluminum; Applied physics; Barrier layers; Ceramics; Dielectric loss; Dielectrics; Grain; Grain boundaries; Niobium; Permittivity; Room temperature; Rutile; Tin dioxide
• ISSN: 0003-6951; 1077-3118
• DOI: 10.1063/1.4964121

The exploration of colossal dielectric permittivity (CP) materials with low dielectric loss in a wide range of frequencies/temperatures continues to attract considerable interest. In this paper, we report CP in (Al + Nb) co-doped rutile SnO2 ceramics with a low dielectric loss at room temperature. Al0.02Nb0.05Sn0.93O2 and Al0.03Nb0.05Sn0.92O2 ceramics exhibit high relative dielectric permittivities (above 103) and low dielectric losses (0.015 < tan δ < 0.1) in a wide range of frequencies and at temperatures from 140 to 400 K. Al doping can effectively modulate the dielectric behavior by increasing the grain and grain boundary resistances. The large differences in the resistance and conductive activation energy of the grains and grain boundaries suggest that the CP in co-doped SnO2 ceramics can be attributed to the internal barrier layer capacitor effect.